COLONIAL MAGAZINE AND Foreign Miscellany. EDITED BY P. L. SIMMONDS, ESQ., FELLOW OF THE STATISTICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON, HONORARY AND CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE STATISTICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL TECHNIC ASSOCIATION OF ANTIGUA; THE ROYAL OF MONTREAL, JAMAICA, BARBADOS, "The Chart of our Colonies is a Chart of the World in outline; for we sweep LONDON: SIMMONDS AND WARD, FOREIGN AND COLONIAL OFFICE, 6, BARGE YARD, BUCKLERSBURY. our control; how blindly ignorant of their intrinsic value! It is only now, after many years of occupation, that we are even beginning to find out the rich hidden treasures of their soils. What acres of fertile land are unpeopled and uncultivated in Natal, Ceylon, Pinang, Malacca, and the better known continents of America and Australia, all holding out inducements of no common kind to settlers, if the Government would but offer the least assistance in transport, or in reduced payments for land. What stolid indifference and wretched supineness is manifested by those who have the control of these valuable possessions! No contribution or exertion has ever been made by the Government towards developing their indigenous resources, exploring the buried treasures of the soil, or reporting upon their capabilities. They do not even assist to diffuse sound and useful information regarding the Colonies among the people. Why is there no Government journal maintained, which should periodically contain an abstract of some of the most important reports and documents transmitted from each Colony? Alas! everything is left for private enterprise. Exploring expeditions, steam navigation companies, mineral surveys, Colonial railroads; what has the Colonial Office contributed towards these? But we believe that even this culpable neglect will be productive of some good. We are progressing towards the time when a consolidation of the empire of Great Britain will be brought about; and we hope to see, before a few years elapse, representatives from every part of our vast Colonial empire assembled in the Imperial Parliament, discussing the great topics of Colonial Legislation and Colonial Reform; establishing the bounds and landmarks of an enlightened commercial system; obliterating the name "dependency," and making the Colonies feel that they are each part and parcel of a great confederacy of Britons-some yielding a point to others but all linked in an indissoluble bond of union, sympathy, and affection. This is no crude theory, no new topic, but one that has frequently been discussed in our pages, and is at present occupying serious attention in most of our Colonies; even while we write, numerous journals from British North America, Australia, and the Cape, of the most recent dates are before us, all loudly calling for this concession. And are not forty Colonies, with a population of five or six millions, contributing towards the protection, prosperity, and revenue of this great kingdom, entitled to some voice in the national councils? Who, in the present day, will deny that the grandeur and prosperity of Great Britain depend on that vast cluster of Colonies which lie scattered over the whole surface of the globe? The sovereignty of so many Colonial Governments of immense extent and unbounded resources should not alone raise our national pride-it should impress upon us the heavy responsibilities which are entailed therewith. A wise and vigorous system of Colonial policy is required to conduce to their individual progress and general welfare; a most statesmanlike administration of affairs is absolutely necessary : liberal laws, wise and beneficial regulations, can only result from an intimate knowledge of their past and present condition; and let us hope that public attention will, ere long, be more prominently directed to our Colonies. Report of the House of Assembly on the State of the Island of Jamaica A few Facts and Practical Suggestions addressed to Visitors at the Cape of Cannot England, at the Head of European Nations, do more towards Alle- Life in the Jungle; or, Letters from a Coffee-planter in Ceylon to his The Bell-Buoy. By FRANCES ELIZABETH DAVIES Mining Operations in our Colonies. The Copper Mines of Lake Superior. Reminiscences of the Island of Cuba; or, the Smiths at the Havana. The Requirements of the West Indies. By THE EDITOR The Labour Market of South Australia Proposal for the Employment of Convicts in the British Sugar-growing Colonies in the West Indies. By JAMES WINDOW, Esq. Dr. LEICHARDT's Account of his late Discoveries in Central Australia On the Medical Qualities of the Mango. By LEWIS DA COSTA Sierra Leone, the Principal British Colony on the Western Coast of Africa. On the Teak and other Forest Trees of Madras An Inquiry into the Proper Mode of Measuring Mahogany in Honduras. The Commercial Position and Prospects of Singapore. By Mr. R. C. WOODS On the Cultivation of the Cane and the Manufacture of its Products. The Lakes and Canals of North America Colonisation a Remedy for National Distress. By Dr. ROLPH Ireland, in Connection with England, as a Great Colonial Power. By Mr. E. PHILLIPS On the Condition and Prospects of the Aborigines of Australia. By WM. On the French Fisheries of Newfoundland. On the Manufacture of Sugar and Rum. |